Water gas set



April 1937- G. w. PARKER 2,077,579

WATER GAS SET Filed July 27, 1934 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR. GEORGE WJFAKKE'RJ ATTORNEY.

April 20, 1937. G. w. PARKER 'WATER GAS SET Filed July 27, 1954 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 E I] E El Hi3 I E! nun FIG. 2

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INVENTOR! GEORGE W. PARKER,

ATTORNEY.

Patented Apr. 20, 1937 PATENT OFFICE WATER GAS SET- George W. Parker, St. Louis, Mo;

Application July 27, 1934, Serial'No. 737,220

6 Claims.

My invention relates to improvements'in water gassets, and has for its primary object the pro-' vided with a dust trap which will catch'most'of' the dust blown over from the generator, to thereby materially assist in keepingthe checker work of the carburetor clean and unfouled.

Another object of my invention is to construct a water gas set in which the center portionof the individual brick or tile used in the checker work, is omitted, and thereby providing additional heating surfaces and passages for any given size of chamber.

A still further object is to construct a water gas set in which the checker work will have relatively thin walls throughout its major portion, to thereby lighten the mass as compared to the usual solid checker brick formation, and at the" same time eliminate the absorption of carbon from the oil vapors in the chambers.

Added objects of my invention, in constructing'a water gas set according to the description herein contained, are that a water gas set constructed according to'my invention will have a greater surface area available for the cracking and superheating o-r fixing of gases and oil; a greater volume of gas can pass through the hollow checker tile than with the usual brick set- 40 ting, due to the more open structure resulting; the tiles can be made much larger, in the main, than with the usual brick, and therefore fewer pieces need be handled, and easier installations made. Further, the tile can be set to greater advantage to suit different shapes of chambers and to suit local conditions. Also, that, on account of the more open construction of the checkers and the method of stacking the tiles in the carburetor or ,superheater, or both, heavier oils may be used, with a consequent saving in cost of oil per unit of gas produced.

Manycther objects and advantagesof the construction' herein shown and described will be ob- 55 viousto those skilled in the art'to which 'thisinvention appertains, from the'disclosures herein given;

To this -end,my in'ventionconsists in the novel construction, arrangement; andcombination of parts herein shown and described, and the uses 5 mentioned; as will be more clearly pointed out in the claims.

In the drawings, wherein like reference characters indicate like or corresponding parts throughout the views, 0

Fig: 1 is a-Vertical central section of a water gas set employing lily-invention;

Fig. 2 is an enlarged diagrammatic view'of the tubular elements in the carburetoror superheat-' er, or in both, looking'at'the same-"from above' 15 andwith' the solid brick courses removed; illus tratingthe preferred manner of setting the tiles;

Fig;-3-is' a-perspective view of several tiers 'of' hollow tiles, showing the manner of staggering the same so as to obtain a sinuous arrangement 20 of tiles;

Fig. lis a horizontal section of an ordinary solid checker brick, showing the carbon absorp tion thereof; and

Fig. 5 is a similar view of one of my improved tiles, illustrating thecarbon absorption ofv the same.

Referring more particularly to the drawings, wherein I'have illustrated one of the preferred embodiments of my invention, 9 indicates a gen- 30 erator,- which may of any suitable size, shape and construction the same having an outlet Ill therefrom, adjacent its top, for communication with a carburetor II. In order to removesome of the dust that passes from the generator to the carburetor, I may arrange a dusttrap or arrestor l2 to depend from the conduit Ill-intermediate the generator and carburetor, the same-having-a removable bottom closure [3 therefor and by means of which the accumulations of dust in the trap may be withdrawn from time to time, as required.

Adjacent the carburetor maybe arranged a superheater' 'l l, a conduit 16 interconnecting the two adjacent their lowerends; 45

Adjacent the bottom of{ the carburetor are supports I4, extending thereacross above the conduit-I6, upon which may be placedone ormore courses of "solid checker brick I5A, and'hollow tiles l5" are superimposedon-said'solid checker brick, as shown, the arrangement-of these hollow tiles being more clearly illustratedinFigs. 2-and 3, the supports [4 being above the bottom of the chamber, and the solid brick being" placed in the usual-formation of being 'spaced'apart.

The tiles 15 are set on end so that the openings therethrough extend substantially vertically, so as to avoid the possibility of obstructing passage of material through the tiles. They are 5 also so arranged that there are passageways between adjacent tiles. In this way the checker chamber is provided with a great number of passages, and an enormous heat-absorbing and radiating surface, but at the same time offers very little resistance to the passage of gases therethrough. It is to be noted that I prefer to arrange the hollow tile of one course or row at an angle to those of the superimposed course or row.

The tiles l5, as will be particularly noted in Figs. 3 and 5, are provided with side walls and end walls 2!. Intermediate the end walls 2|, and. parallel thereto, I may provide walls 22, thus dividing the tile into a plurality of passage- 20 ways or fiues 23 open at both ends. It will be noted that the tiles of each tier are separated from each other, both laterally and longitudinally, the spacing being substantially the same as the size of the fiues or passageways 23, and

25 thereby increasing the number of passageways or fiues through which the gases travel, and accordingly increasing the heat-absorbing and radiating area as compared with the ordinary solid checker work.

It will also be noted that by staggering and arranging the tiles in the manner shown, I obtain uninterrupted vertical flues, and zig-zag or sinuous horizontal passages for the gases. This zig-zag arrangement serves the further purpose of interlocking the checkers to make the structure substantially self-supporting. This feature is one new in the art, and enables a quickly built, rigid, checker arrangement, as well as a material reduction in aggregate weight.

In Fig. 4 I have shown a horizontal section of an ordinary checker brick 24, in which the darkened portion 25 represents the absorption of carbon which is occasioned by the oil sprayed into the carburetor. This carbon spot, as far as I have been able to determine, commences at the center of the brick and gradually grows larger and larger, filling up the pores therein and rendering the heat-absorbing and radiating qualities of the brick decreasingly less as the size of this spot increases.

By the use of my hollow tile, however, the walls are so thin that the deposit of any carbon on the inside of the tile is negligible, consequently my tile will last many hours longer than solid brick,

because when the absorption as indicated by 25 reaches a certain point, the bricks must be removed inasmuch as the checker-work is practically useless insofar as the required heat absorption and radiation is concerned, and which removal requires a shut-down of the plant during this re-buil-ding operation.

I have found it preferable in building up the checkers, to place a series of solid brick ISA on the arch or supports and then build up the hollow tile thereon, because I have found that this will give a more open passageway than if the tiles were seated directly on said supports. If the hollow tubular elements l5 were placed directly on the supports, the lower ends would become more or less closed, and soot and other sediment would rest and accumulate on the supports, as they passed downwardly through the tubular elements, and soon would fill and clog the elements. To overcome this defect, I do not support the tubular elements directly upon the supports, but instead,

space them thereabove, by means of the narrow, solid checker bricks I5A. These solid bricks are laid on their edges, on top of the supports, said bricks being spaced apart, and there may be several layers, courses or tiers of said solid bricks. The bricks in the superimposed layers preferably extend at an angle tothose in the adjacent layers. In this manner, most of the sediment falling through the tubular elements will not be impeded in its progress downwardly, and will accumulate beyond the supports, and only a small part of the sediment will accumulate on the comparatively small top exposed surface of the support or the solid bricks.

In addition to the lowermost series of solid checker brick, upon which the hollow tile rests, I may place a similar series of solid checker brick on top of the hollow tiles, as indicated at MB. This upper layer of solid checker brick, spaced apart and arranged substantially like the lower series, will act somewhat as a shock absorber, preventing the direct impingement of the oncoming oil on the narrow or thin walls of the hollow checkers.

It is to be understood, of course, that the solid checker work 1 5A or MB, or both, is not built up to any great height, and will therefore permit any dust or fuel passing downwardly to do so readily and into the duct 16, from whence it can be readily raked out. By the use of my checker construction in the carburetor it is possible to use a higher percentage of bituminous coal in the generator. This bituminous coal breaks up readily into small particles and will pass over into the carburetor with the gases. A large part of it, however, is caught in the dust trap and any remaining portion passing over will be readily passed through the unobstructed flues of the chamber and drop to the bottom, from whence it can be readily removed. This is possible on account of my unusual construction of checkers within the chambers, and which leaves no broad lodging surfaces for such blown materials to ac cumulate upon.

The uppermost series of solid checker brick may be omitted or eliminated in certain instances, and the number of courses of such solid checker bricks at top and bottom will depend entirely upon the type of fuel used and on other conditions.

There will be but little lodging space for dust and blown-over fuel which might escape the dust trap, on account of the relatively thin Walls and narrow surfaces exposed to the downward travel of the gases, and consequently clogging of the passageways and flues is practically eliminated. I may also, if desired, glaze the tile so as to close up the pores of the various surfaces, thus rendering the impregnation of the tiles by carbon much more difficult than where porous surfaces are present.

Referring again to the generator, the same may be of any desired construction as hereinbefore mentioned, such as having a pier extending upwardly from the grate, a revolving grate, and it may be of the up and down or back-run steam type, and may be provided with an automatic control. Further, I may use a waste heat boiler for recovering heat which would otherwise be lost, for generating steam, and the oil introduced into the communicating chamber may also be preheated thereby, as such preheating is desirable in many instances. A blower 28 may be used to introduce air under pressure into the lower portion of the generator, and a steam pipe 29 used for the introduction of steam thereinto. The heated air is delivered into the generator below the fuel bed to heat the latter to incandescense so that the steam reacts with the carbon in the incandescent fuel, to generate the water gas.

The superheater I1 is also provided immediately above the conduit I6 with the arches or supports [3, in the same manner as the supports IA of the carburetor, and the check-work arranged therein may be the same as that hereinbefore described in connection with the carburetor, the construction of the tiles, their arrangement, and the manner of support being substantially identical to that shown in the carburetor, if so desired. Briefly, the hollow tiles l are arranged with their openings extending vertically, the same resting on the one or more courses of solid brick that are in turn supported on the supports l8, and one or more courses of solid brick may be arranged on top of the body of tubular or hollow tile.

The outlet I9 may be provided for the superheater and through which the carbureted water gas is passed or drawn, passing through the water box (not shown) and then may be pumped to a suitable storage tank or gasometer (not shown), through a pipe 26 which communicates with the outlet I9. An exhauster 21, of any suitable type to create a suction in the upper portion of the superheater, may be arranged to withdraw the gas through the pipes 26 and IS in series.

The carburetor may have an oil pipe 30 extending thereinto, provided with .a nozzle 3| adjacent its lower end, and through which oil is sprayed into the carburetor. While passing through the heated checkers, this oil is cracked and transformed into vapor or gas, and when passing through the superheater mingles with the products of combustion, air and steam, and becomes stable or fixed so that it will not condense and thus become a component part of the gas.

I believe that a saving in fuel can be effected on account of creating a suction in the superheater, which will assist in drawing the air and steam introduced into the fuel bed therethrough, and also assist in the passage of the gases through the carburetor and superheater. Additional saving in oil can be effected, due to the decrease of absorption space by the oil by my improved checkers over the solid brick and it has also been definitely established that an increase in capacity by use of my improvement can be effected. While I have described my improvement as being directed to water gas sets, it is also possible, with a slight modification, if necessary, to use the same for oil gas sets.

The carburetor and superheater shells or chambers may be provided with a dome 32 above the checker work, the same to be of any desired height. The various chambers will of course hold their heat better and operate with greater eificiency when lined with a refractory material as shown. The provision of the dome above the checker, especially in the carburetor, will provide a larger combustion chamber above the checker work and also tends to give better treatment to the oil sprayed into the top of the chamber and thereby increase the gas-making capacity of an existing set.

This application is a substitute for and a continuation-in-part of my co-pending application for patent, Serial No. 495,011, filed Nov. 12, 1930.

What I claim as new and desired to secure by Letters Patent is: v

1. In a water gas set carburetor having an oil inlet, a checker work device comprising a tier of a plurality of spaced apart supports extending across said carburetor adjacent its bottom, a checker work of superimposed tiers of open-ended tubular elements in said carburetor above said supports, and a. checker work of spaced apart solid members supporting said tubular elements and supported on top of said tier of supports.

2. In a water gas set carburetor having an oil inlet, a checker work device comprising an outer shell, a plurality of supports spaced apart across its bottom, a plurality of superimposed tiers of open-ended tubular elements in said shell, the elements of one tier being at an angle to those of the adjacent tier, and checker work of spaced apart solid members above and below said tubular elements, the lower solid members being supported on said supports and spacing the tubular elements thereabove.

3. In a chamber for making gas, a checker work device comprising supports extending across the bottom of said chamber, solid checker bricks on said supports, and a plurality of tiers of openended tubular elements on said solid bricks to form the main checker work, the opening through said tubular elements extending vertically and the elements of each tier of said tubular elements being spaced apart at their ends and at their sides, and the tubular elements of one tier arranged at an angle to those of the superimposed tier of tubular elements.

4. In a chamber for making gas and having supports across its bottom a checker work device within said chamber and comprising a lowermost checker work section of solid elements on said supports, and a second checker work section of superimposed tiers of open-ended tubular elements forming the major portion of the checkerwork within said device and supported on said solid elements and having vertically extending openings therethrough and reducing the contact area at the lower ends of the tubular elements.

5. In a chamber for making gas and having a plurality of spaced apart supports extending across adj acently above its bottom a checker work construction within said chamber, a checker work section of solid members placed on said supports, and a second checker work section of greater height than that of said first checker work section and composed of open-ended tubular elements supported on said solid members, the openings through said tubular elements extending from top to bottom.

6. In a. container for making gas, a checker work section of superimposed tiers of open tubular elements therein, said openings extending substantially vertically therethrough, supports extending across the container adjacent its bottom, and a second checker work section of much less overall height than said first checker work section and composed of spaced apart solid brick supported on top of said supports and supporting said tubular elements.

GEORGE W. PARKER. 

